Dutch Modernism: Jan Sluijters
A Lady with a Black Hat, likely 1910s
chalk and watercolour on paper
52.5 × 38.5 cm
Auctioned at Christie’s in 2009 for EUR 5,625

This portrait carries the quiet strength that Sluijters could draw out of a single figure. The woman’s wide black hat dominates the sheet, its dark brim framing her face and giving the composition a clear, striking silhouette. Her expression is direct and a little intense, the mouth just slightly parted, as if she has been caught in a moment of thought. The ink lines around her features are firmer than they first appear, giving the drawing a steady structure, while the watercolour settles in soft, cool washes that open the space around her. The turquoise background adds a gentle lift, making the figure feel present without ever becoming heavy. The sheet itself holds the colour with an easy clarity, the surface still fresh enough to let the portrait breathe.

Sluijters, born in ’s‑Hertogenbosch in 1881, absorbed the energy of early modernism with unusual ease. Alongside Leo Gestel and Piet Mondrian he formed part of the so‑called Moderne Drie, the trio who helped steer Dutch painting toward a more international, experimental language. Their exchanges created a climate in which colour, structure, and immediacy could be explored with new freedom, and this portrait—likely executed in the 1910s—sits comfortably within that moment. His involvement with the Moderne Kunstkring placed him at the centre of this shift, bringing the boldness of Paris into the Dutch conversation and opening the door to movements that had not yet found a foothold at home. Even in a restrained work like this one, that broader modernist dialogue is present in the confident line, the lifted palette, and the sense of a figure held in a moment of living light. The crisp white shirt and dark collar add a quiet contrast that supports the face and hat, giving the portrait its calm balance.

Throughout his career Sluijters moved between luminism, expressionism, and brief touches of cubism, but his portraits remained the heart of his work. This sheet belongs to that world—simple, direct, and shaped by the warmth of close looking. When he died in Amsterdam in 1957, he left behind an oeuvre that still feels alive in its light, its colour, and its steady attention to the people who sat before him.